masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgOrioles closer Zach Britton said X-rays taken on his left ankle came back negative and he hopes to throw again in a few days.
Britton jammed the ankle last night in the ninth inning. He exited the game and is on crutches this morning. He’s also wearing a walking boot, but more so for a stimulation device to speed up the healing process.
“After I flipped the ball to Chris, I just kind of felt something,” Britton said. “I didn’t know if I stepped wrong. … It didn’t feel like I rolled it…

Orioles closer Zach Britton said X-rays taken on his left ankle came back negative and he hopes to throw again in a few days.

Britton jammed the ankle last night in the ninth inning. He exited the game and is on crutches this morning. He’s also wearing a walking boot, but more so for a stimulation device to speed up the healing process.

britton-pitching-orange-front-sidebar.jpg“After I flipped the ball to Chris, I just kind of felt something,” Britton said. “I didn’t know if I stepped wrong. … It didn’t feel like I rolled it or anything, my ankle, but just didn’t feel very good and Richie (Bancells, head athletic trainer) didn’t think there was any reason to push it last night. Especially with the way the weather was, the field conditions, everything. It was just best to shut it down right there.”

Britton thinks he can avoid his first trip to the disabled list since 2012.

“I think I’d be surprised if I had to go on the DL, but we’ll see how it feels,” he said. “It feels pretty good compared to yesterday, but still some tenderness in there and obviously I’m not walking great, so I think you’ve got to walk fine before I can even start pitching again. Hopefully, it’s just a few days and maybe I can throw a bullpen or at least run on it.

“I’ve never done anything to my ankles, so I didn’t really know what I was feeling. Didn’t feel very good. Just kind of felt like I had jammed it, I guess. The best way to describe it. But Richie kind of took charge and said, ‘That’s it.’

“There’s some areas that are painful right now, but overall it’s isolated compared to last night. Last night it was kind of everywhere, and this morning it’s in one spot, which is a good thing, from what the doctor said. Now that we kind of have an idea of what it is.”

Britton said he didn’t sleep very well last night.

“It think it was more so that I was anxious to get in and talk to the doctors and see how everything was,” he said.

Britton said an MRI isn’t scheduled for now, though the plan could change later in the week.

Britton made a diving tag on Avisail Garcia to end Friday night’s game and sustained the ankle injury last night while chasing Adam Eaton’s bunt single.

“I was telling Buck (Showalter) I was trying to win the Gold Glove,” he said. “I think I’m going to shut that down for now on.”